A Second Chance for the Fallen
by SoA
Summary: This songfic features Relient K's song "Fallen Man", telling the story of Carth and Revan's relationship of mistrust, love, and forgiveness.


**A Second Chance for the Fallen**

_As you push it up through the soil,  
I will shake your filthy hand.  
You may be dead to me but that don't mean we can't be friends._

The _Endar Spire_ bucked and shook with the impact of another successful bombardment from the Sith. Another set of sirens whined in the distance. Through the roar of the battle and the creaking of his ship, Carth heard running footsteps clattering on the metal flooring approaching. He hoped against all hope that it was the soldier he had seen on the security cameras and not one of the Sith who had boarded the cruiser. With all the damage the _Endar Spire_ was taking, he couldn't wait with the last escape pod much longer, survivor or no. He held his blasters at the ready for whoever came.

A petite woman in the yellow and orange armor of a Republic soldier sprinted into the escape pod launch bay. Looking haggard from her escape, her dark eyes were bright and alert. She had chocolate brown skin and tussled, short-cropped black hair. Watching through the distorted security feeds, Carth had thought she was a young man, and it caught him off-guard to realize differently.

With a sigh of relief, Carth lowered his blasters. "You made it," he commended.

"Thanks for waiting, Lieutenant Onasi," she panted. "I'm Ensign Ev Pell, by the way."

Carth took her hand and shook it. "Good to meet you, Pell," he said quickly, "You were the last survivor, as far as I know. Let's get off this ship before the Sith blow it to pieces."

Waving at the last remaining escape pod, Ev said, "After you, Lieutenant."

_Now it's time to get over this,  
Long as it's clear you understand,  
That I will never trust a single thing you say again._

The _Ebon Hawk _was safely in hyperspace, away from the terrors of the _Leviathan_ and Darth Malak. At long last, Carth had been able to kill his ex-mentor Saul Karath, taking his revenge for the destruction Saul had wrought on Telos, killing Carth's wife and son. And yet, Carth could find no peace.

He stared coldly at the woman he had grown to love as she approached him across the cabin. "So, you've been Revan this whole time," he accused, more harshly than he meant to.

"Carth," Ev pleaded, "That's not who I am now?"

"Is it?" Carth argued bitterly, "Those hands are the hands that tore the Republic apart. Those hands killed millions. If not for you, my family would still be alive!"

"Carth, you know that that was Malak and Saul who destroyed Telos," Ev argued helplessly.

"But Malak was your apprentice!" Carth accused, "You fell and took him with you."

"That's not who I am now, Carth," Ev replied with firmness in her insecurity, "I'm on your side. I'm changed. I don't even remember any of that. Please believe me."

"As if I could."

_Don't give up, it's not the end,  
There's hope for every fallen man,  
To pick themselves up when they think they can,  
Because with every passing second comes a second chance._

Juhani sensed pain and turmoil radiating from all corners of the _Ebon Hawk_. It came most keenly from the cargo hold, and there she found Ev, huddled in the back corner.

She kneeled down beside Ev and put a hand on her arm. "Ev, you are still the person you were when I met you," Juhani said, "The person who turned me back from the Dark Side."

"Juhani, you don't have to—" Ev protested, repressed sobs caught in her throat.

"Yes, I do. I need to remind you that you are not following the Dark Side now. You are not Darth Revan now. You are who you have made yourself to be," Juhani said firmly. "You are in inspiration to me."

"All because the Jedi Council captured me and messed with my head," Ev pointed out bitterly, "Not because I decided to change or anything like that."

"But the path you walk now is evidence of your new heart," Juhani urged her friend to understand, "Continue to walk in the light, and the others will come to see that this is who you are. You are Ev Pell, not Darth Revan. I don't know exactly what the Jedi Masters did to bring about this change in you, but they gave you a second chance. Do not dwell in the errors of the past. That will only take you back to the Dark Side. Take this chance they gave you and redeem yourself."

"Carth will hold his grudges to the end of time," Ev murmured.

Juhani flinched back, then took a deep breath. "I am sure he too will see your dedication to the Republic," Juhani comforted her, "and what an amazing woman you are."

_You stole so much from me and there is nothing left to take,  
Save a hard learned lesson on how to not make the same mistake._

Ev lingered in the back of the cockpit as Carth prepared to take the _Ebon Hawk_ out of hyperspace near Korriban. "Carth," she started hesitantly.

He ignored her.

"Carth please," Ev started again.

"What do you want?" Carth asked gruffly, not turning around to look at her.

"Carth, you don't have to forgive me. You don't even have to accept me," Ev started shakily, "but we do need to communicate. We cannot finish this mission and destroy the Star Forge as enemies."

Carth tossed a look over his shoulder. "How can I look at your face now and see anything but an enemy?" Carth demanded coldly, "You brought the Sith back and it was the Sith who took my family—my life away." _And then you went and took my heart too._

Although it remained unsaid, Ev seemed to understand his meaning. "For the good of our mission, at least consider it," she requested, then fled the cockpit.

_And you may be delirious but that is something that will fade,  
After you confess that this mess is all something that you made._

Despite himself, Carth followed Ev into the heart of the Sith Academy on Korriban. And now they were in search of his son, a Sith trainee who had gone missing in the ruins around the academy.

Huge pyramidal tombs loomed up like mountains on either side of the Valley of the Sith Lords. Each of the four tombs was attended by two just as monumental statues of men, bowing to the power of the Sith Lords entombed within. Here and there Sith archaeologist dug, picked, and dusted their way towards new discoveries.

This place had such a history of evil. Even now, it was a place of evil; a training ground for the Sith that bombarded his Republic—a training ground that had stolen his son from him.

In the center of the valley, Ev suddenly stopped and swayed dizzily.

Despite himself, Carth asked, "Are you okay?"

"I—I don't know," she stammered, "I've been here before."

"Of course you have," Carth replied shortly. _You founded this kriffing academy._

"No, no," Ev tried in vain to clarify, "It's like, I feel I've been here before. I don't remember, but..."

Carth stared warily at her out of the corner of his eyes, "You're not making any sense."

"Carth, who am I?" she asked, staring straight at him, her dark eyes pleading for an answer.

_Take a good look at yourself and know,  
You've got yourself a ways to go.  
But difficult is not impossible,  
You can take back all the lost control._

With Korriban behind them, Carth thought he would be able to breathe easy again. They were finished with that nest of Sith, they had found his son who he had thought was dead, and Ev had convinced him to turn from his Sith training.

Yet, turmoil still simmered inside him.

Sure, they were flying into the complete unknown on this crazy mission to save the Republic, but that wasn't what bothered.

"Ev," Carth called hesitantly up towards the gun turret that she always seemed to hide in when she was upset.

"What?" came her terse reply.

Carth climbed the ladder and poked his head up into the space above. "Ev," he repeated, "Can we talk?"

"Oh, if you finally feel like it, please start talking," she replied with a hint of bitterness, still staring out at the blue swirls of hyperspace.

"I'm sorry," Carth started earnestly. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you recently."

She looked down to stare at him, her expression unreadable beyond a faint light of hope in her eyes.

"After all this, I can't hate you," Carth admitted, "Force knows, I've tried. I refused to look at what you've done, what you're doing. You're taking back your life despite all that you did in the past, despite what the Jedi did to you. And, really, I'm not sure how you do it. Ev, you're so strong. When I think about it all, it amazes me."

Her eyes glistened and she chanced a small smile, "Thank you Carth."

"I've looked inside myself, and I think I still love you, after all of this," Carth admitted, "If you can forgive me."

"What is there to forgive?" Ev asked, tearily.

"I know that somewhere inside of you, Revan may still be hiding, waiting to burst out and take over again," Carth took a deep breath, "But if that time ever does come, I hope I can be there to save you from yourself."

_Take a good look at yourself and see,  
You'll emerge eventually.  
As long as your heart's not too far gone,  
From the only thing that can save you from yourself..._

Carth's heart pounded. He raced through the Star Forge, his companions behind him. The very walls of the Star Forge resonated with the evil of the Sith. Somewhere at its heart was Ev, Ev who had reclaimed her title as Darth Revan, who had turned on Jolee and Juhani and followed Bastila back to this terrible space station.

They were here to stop Bastila's battle meditation from interfering with the Republic's attack of the Star Forge and to sabotage the Sith's war efforts in any way they could.

But Carth mind and heart were set on only one thing: finding Ev. He clung to the feeble hope that maybe he could turn her back. _Ev, this isn't you, please look inside yourself and see: you aren't evil. I love you. I've seen the good, the compassion in you. Please let me find you. Let me show you who you really are. I promised I would save you from yourself, and I will._  
_  
Don't give up, it's not the end._

_You'll get back on your feet again._

_Forgivness can be given when you think it can,  
Because with every passing second comes a second chance._

Back on Lehon, Carth stood next to Ev on the beach. The surf lapped gently at their boots. Carth slipped his arm around her waist and she leaned into him. Even in the blue sky of day, they could see debris from the Star Forge in orbit.

"We did it," Ev murmured.

"You did it," Carth corrected softly.

The ocean churned. The wind whispered in the wide leaves of the palm trees. Rakata rumbled their conversations in the enclave behind them. For a moment, everything was perfect.

"Ev, you destroyed the evil that you brought on the galaxy as Revan," Carth said quietly, "You impersonated a Sith, Darth Revan, but you didn't become her again. What you did before was terrible, but with the death of Darth Malak and the destruction of the Star Forge, you've redeemed yourself in the eyes of the galaxy."

"If only I could forgive myself," Ev sighed.

"I'm sure, one day you will."

_Forgivness can be given when you think it can,  
Because with every passing second comes a second chance._


End file.
